For the council to be legally allowed to vote on issues, at least five council members must be at a meeting. At today's meeting, four council members, Cusick, Lamont McClure, Tom Dietrich and Scott Parsons physically attended, and one, Ferraro, attended by telephone.

While it is legal for a council member to attend by phone, McClure said it was unfair, because Councilman Ken Kraft, who has influenza, expressed interest in attending the meeting the same way.

"We lack the technology to do so," McClure said. Because of the county's phone system, only one person could telecommute.

McClure voted for Kraft for council president and Councilman Bob Werner for vice president, neither of whom were in attendance at the meeting. McClure initially asked to postpone the vote, but withdrew that request.

When the vote was taken, three council members -- Cusick, Ferraro and Dietrich -- voted for Cusick and Ferraro. Parsons abstained from both votes.

"In the time we've been here, I don't think the president and vice president have ever been elected by three votes," McClure said. He said he believes there should be at least five votes in favor of a candidate.

But council solicitor Phillip Lauer said reorganization only requires a motion, which requires a simple majority vote.

McClure asked solicitors to check if a president has ever been elected by less than five votes for the next council meeting.